Consumers of disposable pre-moistened nonwoven wipes, particularly baby wipes, desire a soft, cloth-like wipe that is economical. Consumers react to visual and tactile properties in their assessment of wipes. Thus the presence of cloth-like texture on a pre-moistened nonwoven wipe can signal to a consumer that a wipe has the properties of cloth.
Disposable pre-moistened wipes are typically made of non-woven webs. A variety of methods are known in the art for providing non-woven webs with cloth-like texture. However, in order for the texture to be visible when a web is pre-moistened, the methods may require physical or chemical binding of the fibers that make up the web. For example, visible texture may be applied to a non-woven web comprising thermoplastic fibers via thermal calender-bonding. In this process, adjacent thermoplastic fibers are compressed and melt-bonded together. In a further example, an adhesive may be applied to the fibers. For instance, the Procter & Gamble Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. markets PAMPERS® Kid Fresh™ wipes in North America, which comprise nonwoven substrates manufactured via an airlaid adhesive-bonded process that includes the imprinting of calender embossed designs. In another example, a resin may hold embossed regions together when wet, such as in the 100% cellulosic Bounty® Paper Towels, also marketed by the Procter & Gamble Company.
The use of additives, such as chemicals, binders, resins and the like, may add to the cost of producing pre-moistened nonwoven wipes. Likewise, the increasing price of petroleum-based products such as thermoplastic fibers, may add to the cost. To provide the consumer with a soft, cloth-like wipe that is economical, it would therefore be desirable to provide a pre-moistened nonwoven wipe consisting essentially of non-thermoplastic fibers with a visible cloth-like texture that withstands being wetted without using chemicals, binders, resins and the like to maintain the texture. Moreover, it would be desirable to provide a method for doing so.